The Blog -- My New Farm Chore

It's been over a week since my first post, and friends and family have asked why I started a blog, especially in the midst of a crazy graduate school schedule. The answer is simple, "Consumers want to know more about agriculture, and I am equipped to share its message."

Today, I was pointed to a great University of Illinois blog entry titled What If We Awaken and There Are No More Farmers to be Found. It highlights the challenge of replacing America's aging farmers and the motivations leading my generation back to the farm. It also touches on one of the reasons I started this blog.

I grew up on a pretty typical western Kansas farm where the seasons were defined by the farm work.

Spring brought fence fixing and breaking ground on the year's first field work. Summer didn't officially start until wheat harvest. Fall was marked with fall harvest and bringing calves back from pasture. And, winter arrived when you moved the cattle out to milo and corn stalks.

It's a life I love, and I know too much about the culture and business to not share the story. My generation of agriculturalists face challenges never faced before. We not only have to feed a growing world, but feed the curiosities of non-farm consumers that simply want to know what goes on beyond the pasture gate.

Will I go back to my family farm? Not right now, but it certainly doesn't keep me from being involved. I go back home every chance I get. The family farm is too much a part of my life to simply leave it behind, and I need to defend its honor.

I remember getting choked up reciting The FFA Creed as a high school freshman, and on National Ag Day, it seems appropriate to share the second paragraph:

I believe that to live and work on a good farm, or to be engaged in other agricultural pursuits, is pleasant as well as challenging; for I know the joys and discomforts of agricultural life and hold an inborn fondness for those associations which, even in hours of discouragement, I cannot deny.

The agricultural industry built the United States into a world power, but today's consumers haven't stepped foot on a farm. That isn't good or bad. It's a reality of the world we live in, and I am confident my generation is going to face more challenges than they can handle by themselves.

On the farm, you learn at an early age that everyone has a job to do. Your job might not be fancy, but that doesn't mean it isn't necessary. TheBeefUEat.com is my new chore.

The job isn't daring, like rescuing newborn calves from of snow drifts, or dirty, like cleaning grain bins in 100 degree heat, but I'm not going to stop until the job is finished. Consumers need to learn more about what my family and friends do to feed the world.